1.21: Prayer, Pie, and Peppermint Mochas

Warning: This post contains content that may not be appropriate for younger readers. The chapter contains adult conversations involving woohoo. Consider the rating PG-13.

I tossed and turned most of the night. I couldn’t get Carina’s or Andromeda’s words out of my head.

YOU TRAITOR!

You saw dad?

We’ve got alien DNA in us! I don’t have any friends as it is and now this is going to make it worse.

We need to figure this out!

If you had any sense at all, you’d protect her instead of exposing her to the sins of our father.

Sometimes I wish I wasn’t here.

How can I ever trust you again?

That’s it! I sat up and groaned, smacking my forehead. It was 5:19 A.M. I wasn’t getting any sleep tonight. I needed something to soothe my nerves.

I wandered downstairs to the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee. The lights were on. Andi was in her nightgown pulling something from the oven.

“Hi,” I said, emotionless.

“Hi,” she replied, setting a pie on the counter.

“What are you making?” I yawned as I popped a peppermint mocha AN-cup₁ into the Excellent Anson Hot Beverage Maker.

“Pumpkin pie.”

I smiled slightly. My sister’s response to sleeplessness was always to bake something yummy. She was an angel in the kitchen. I wished I had her skill.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

“Yeah something like that.”

“Me neither.”

“What are you having?” Andi asked.

“Peppermint mocha,” I said after taking a seat at the counter.

“Sounds good. I think I’ll do the same,” she replied, setting a coffee mug on the Anson.

“Can I join you?” she asked.

“You were here first,” I shrugged.

We drank our beverages in silence. The hot coffee was just what I needed to perk up. There was something comforting about a mug of my favorite beverage. The peppermint was soothing and the chocolate danced on my taste buds.

“Kass?” Andi broke the silence, her voice quavering.

“Yeah?”

“Are you… okay?”

I knew exactly what she meant.

“Yeah.”

Andi breathed a sigh of relief. We resumed sipping our drinks.

“Should I get tested too?” she asked tentatively.

“Probably a good idea,” I said seriously.

“Yeah,” she agreed quietly. “Would you come with me?”

“Of course.”

Andi took a sip and I set my cup down.

“Andi, I’m so sorry about last night. I didn’t know how to tell you and Cari and I think I did it badly,” I apologized.

“I don’t know how you could deliver that news well. You did the best you could,” Andi reassured me. “…well with Cari blowing her stack that is.”

“Yeah,” I smiled weakly.

“Thank you for telling me.”

“You’re welcome. You had a right to know.”

“No, thank you for being the one to tell me… tell us, that is. It’s a lot easier coming from you than from our dad.”

“Oh, you’re welcome.”

“Does Mamma know?”

“Not yet.”

“Oh.”

I looked over at my little sister. She looked so young and fresh… and fragile. I knew she was probably scared. I certainly was. I was sure Carina was too. Underneath all that anger she had to be afraid. I didn’t know how to help my sisters. I wanted desperately to protect them as their big sister, but I still couldn’t wrap my head around everything. I wondered what she had told VJ about last night.

“VJ knows.”

Well that answers my question.

“How’d he take it?”

“He thought it was cool he was possibly dating an alien.”

“Very funny. Partial alien. And it’s not confirmed.”

“Is that why you were in the hospital the other night?”

“Oh no, I was just stressed and dehydrated.”

“Oh, Mamma wouldn’t tell us anything. She did say you two argued. I thought maybe about dad… or EXCES.”

“No, we argued about Davis.”

“Davis? Hmm…” Andi took a sip of her coffee.

“What’s the hmm… for?” I asked.

“She said he was there,” Andi replied. “Did he do something?”

I knew she was fishing. I didn’t really care.

“He kissed me,” I confessed.

“Really?” she put her cup down, her eyes widening. “Is that why you and Mamma…”

“No, Mamma doesn’t know about the kiss.”

“So…”

“So I told him I didn’t want to kiss him.”

“Why’d you do that?”

“Because… because… I don’t know… I don’t know how I feel about him.”

“Why don’t you start at the beginning and tell me everything?” Andi said, placing her hand on top of mine with an encouraging smile.

We talked until dawn. I told her everything from first meeting Davis to finding out he lived in Nonna’s poolhouse to our awkward first date and the baseball catastrophe to the jazz night at the coffee house and Davis dedicating a song to me.

Andi was impressed by that. I told her about how we danced and how he admired me because of my plans and how his family lived in Edgewater and how he wanted to take me to this lake. I told her about how he’d driven me to the house after the earthquake and stayed with me at the hospital. I told her about Mamma’s lecture and her concerns about well… and afterwards how Davis had hugged me so tightly and I didn’t want him to let me go. I told her how he had said he wanted to be with me and then kissed me and I totally freaked out because I didn’t know what kind of be with…

“Have you asked him?” she interjected.

“Asked him what?” I frowned.

“What his intentions are? What he wants? What his thoughts are about… woohoo?” Andi inquired quietly.

“Yes… yes, you are,” Andi laid her hand gently on my arm. “Kass, you have to talk about these kinds of things if you’re serious. You have to set boundaries. You have to decide what your morals and values are. You have to figure out if you and he are on the same page. You have to figure out a game plan together. It’s easy to say no now and say you’ll never do anything to compromise your integrity, but in the moment, emotions are flying, hormones are amped up, and it’s easy to just give in.”

“How’d you get so wise!” I remarked proudly, and then frowned. “You haven’t… you know… had…”

“No,” Andi shook her head. “VJ and I had that conversation. We’re waiting and it’s a decision I’d stick by no matter what.”

“Then what about in the moment and everything?”

“Just because I haven’t had sex doesn’t mean I haven’t wanted to,” Andi replied. “Those emotions are still very real and those hormones are hard to ignore, but we’re smart. We’ve set boundaries. We have accountability. Sex is a powerful and beautiful thing, and when it’s done wrong, it can completely destroy a person. It’s designed to bond you to a man in a way nothing else can. When you give yourself to a person, a piece of you stays with that person and a piece of them stays with you even if you move onto someone else. That’s why sex is designed to be with one person. It’s safe that way, but special and sacred. I’d rather wait to experience that within the confines of marriage than give myself away on a whim. That’s a decision VJ and I made together, and it’s so going to be worth it. “

“Is it really that easy?”

“No, but we understand the powerful consequences of sex, both positive and negative consequences), and respect each other enough to wait, and we’ve prayed over it.”

“Prayed?” I wrinkled my nose.

“Yes, and I know you don’t know what you think about Padre, but my faith has helped me to stay pure in a way nothing else ever could,” Andi explained. “When I’m in communion with Him, He gives me the strength to withstand temptation.”

“I’m all for staying pure,” I said. “But praying about it? I mean, isn’t that a little hokey?”

“No, it’s not,” she said with a smile. “In fact, if you don’t pray, to me, that seems hokey. Padre wants to hear from you, Kass. He cares about your concerns and your fears, your desires and your dreams. He wants you to make the best decisions and He wants to protect you but He won’t make those decisions for you. He gives you free will because He wants you to choose Him. I don’t know any other god that does that, do you?”

“I don’t know, Andi,” I sighed. “I’m trying to figure everything else in my life out right now. I don’t want the added complication of figuring out the Creator of everything.”

“Kass, He’d help you with the figuring out part. He would give you clarity and peace. You just have to choose Him and trust He knows what’s best for you,” Andi explained.

“Okay, I’ll think about it,” I agreed, wanting desperately to change the subject.

“Good,” she smiled. “Now how about a slice of pumpkin pie?”

“Before breakfast?”

“What do you mean before breakfast? Pumpkin pie can be breakfast.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Andi stood up and sliced us a piece of pie each and set it down on the counter. We were both about to take a bite when she stopped me and set down her fork.

“Kass, can I pray for us?” she asked earnestly.

“Sure,” I nodded, feeling a little awkward.

“Almighty Father,” she closed her eyes. “Padre, I thank You for this food which we’re about to eat. I thank You for providing us with good things and good conversation. I ask that you help Kass work through her fears and to have a positive and constructive conversation with Davis about their relationship and everything that entails. In Your Name.”

I opened an eye and saw her do the sign of the cross as she finished, her eyes still closed. I quickly closed my own eyes and tried to do it myself.

“Father. Son. Spirit,” she whispered.

“Father. Son. Spirit,” I mumbled, feeling strange as I said it.

Wow Andi takes this spiritual stuff really seriously!

We enjoyed our breakfast pie in quiet unison. I think we were both hungry after our long talk. Andi took our plates and stuck them in the dishwasher after we finished.

“I enjoyed our conversation,” Andi hugged me.

“Me too,” I bobbed my head in agreement. “Thank you, Andi.”

“Anytime,” she smiled.

“Andi?”

“Yeah?”

“How do you know?”

“Oh Kass, you just know.”

“Okay, and how do I know how he feels?”

“You’ll know, by the way he treats you. More than his words, his actions will tell you everything.”

—

Chapter 22 Coming Soon!

Will Kass figure out her thoughts about sex and dating?

Will she have a conversation with Davis now?

How will her next conversation with Cari go?

Will she look into the whole ‘spiritual thing’ Andi keeps talking about?

Author Changes: What’s different?

Picture size was edited.

Almighty and Almighty Father was changed to Padre in a few instances. To learn more about religion, click here.

Story Extras:

AN-cup is my Simworld version of K-cup and an Anson beverage maker is my Simworld version of the Keurig.

Andi’s got a good head on her shoulders. For now. Anything could happen in the Sims world. LOL. However, I think you’re absolutely right. She is wise beyond her years, and she’s a good counterbalance for Kass. The two have a unique relationship.